The invention concerns a process and apparatus for the analysis of mixtures of substances which comprise at least one component which is soluble with a change in enthalpy, whereby the changes in temperature resulting from the dissolution of said component in the solvent serve as a measure of the content of the component in the mixture of substances.
Substantial changes in enthalpy occur upon the dissolution of numerous substances. The present invention utilizes this phenomenon, which otherwise is primarily of scientific interest, for the analysis of mixtures of substances, wherein the component to be determined is present in a mixture with secondary components causing lesser changes in enthalpy during their dissolution, or are indifferent in this respect, or only slightly soluble or insoluble. The invention takes advantage of this property particularly in the analysis of mixtures wherein the component to be determined is present in high concentration. The performance of analysis of samples of this type frequently requires a laborious, time-consuming preparation of a sample solution and therefore does not lend itself to automation. Also, conventional methods of analysis, especially in production control, whereby a large number of analyses must be performed within a short period of time, are often excessively expensive, not rapid enough and pose high requirements with respect to personnel.